THE MAXI SKIRT

This floor length maxi skirt is actually a dress from Witchery. It works a lot better as a skirt, even though styling it is a bit challenging due to its bright printed nature. What I love most about this skirt/dress is the flowiness and lightness of the fabric making it perfect for hot summer days. I wore this outfit to an outdoor lunch; the cotton felt breathable and the fabric was not sticking to my body.

I decided to style the skirt with more prints...going for a print on print look. I knew it was a risky move; usually you would want to tone down a printed piece with a mono colored piece.  

The bra top is one of my favorite trends, it allows you to show off a little bit of flesh without feeling too exposed.  The playfull, almost tribal yellow pattern is what attracted to this bratop. I added a beaded neck piece to complete the look. I love beaded statement neck pieces. I felt the tibal feel brought my the beads would complement the tribal print on the top.

I guess this look is not your typical laid back maxi dress look at all; it's a little hard working, a little complex but it really felt comfortable..which is essential for any look.

About the outfit:

-Dress worn as a skirt- Witchery @ Stuttafords
- Bra top- Kumaro @ Mr Price
- Beaded Neck piece- Lovisa
- Sunnies- Free from ElleSA Magazine December edition

Gifts for under R200

My crazy friends and I had the ridiculous idea of getting each other gifts of  not more than R200 this year, that is a little over US $20. Crazy as it was I loved this idea, the low budget would force us to be inventive and a lot more consideration would go into the gift..which would give it even more meaning. Once I started looking for the gifts I quickly realized the nightmare I was faced with. But I never back away from a challenge and in the end I was pretty happy with what I found for my friends. The even harder part was willing myself into not keeping everything for myself *hides face*

Gift one: Who doesn't like a party top?

This wonderful embroidered top is too cute for words, and as previously mentioned I kind of wanted it for myself.. It's from Forever New and it was on sale at R175. Score!
I think this top is so versatile, it can be worn with jeans for both a casual and a semi casual night look. It would also work with a flared skirt and a blazer or tailored high waist shorts.


Gift two: All wrapped up in gorgeousness..

This scarf is just amazingly fabulous...I couldn't resist also buying one for myself..
It's colorful and silky and can be worn in soo many ways. Weather worn around your neck as a scarf or as head wrap this scarf is sure to impress. The friend I bought this scarf for is a little conservative when it comes to print and color..she prefers simple and less noisy...this scarf is the opposite of that, the perfect little way to nudge her ever so slightly away from her comfort zone.
The scarf is also from Forever New..retailing at R195..awesome price!

Gift three: Bag it!

If your are buying a gift for under R200 you must surely go to Mr Price..so I did and I was not disappointed.
I got this vintage look bag for R79, I was shocked out of my socks and also very happy about that number. If this was not the last one I would have also gotten myself one. It's soo lady like and so stylish, perfect for a lunch out or a night out. It can be carried as a clutch or as a bag. I love the neon Pink that is showing through the cut outs.
Because this gift was so dead cheap, I still had a budget left to buy something else...I found the cutest phone cover at Forever New. It was also on sale for R60, I just couldn't resist the girlylook of this pouch..too cute.

This just proves you don't need to spend a lot to show the people you love that you care and appreciate them. 

PRINTED PANTS

The weather has been a little cold and wet in Jo’burg bringing much needed relief from the hot and humid summer days.

No matter, bad weather means nothing to a busy fashionista.

My look today revolves around these printed cropped pants from Forever New. I love the light weight fabric they are made from.

The print pattern is simple in black and white and the high waist is just fabulous. I dream of wearing them with a really bright top or blazer.

In the meantime I paired them with a beige blazer and bright heels. 

I have worn these pants before with a basketball jacket; I think they work better here in smart casual than in sporty chic.

I apologize for the less than impressive quality of the photos, my camera has been acting up, so my pictures didn't come as well as I had hoped.

At the top of my Christmas wish list is a professional camera…hint.. hint...lol.

 About the look:
- Pants- Forever New
- Blazer- Selfi
- Shoes- Nine West

THE SEARCH FOR PERFECTION

There are a couple of pieces of clothing that I am looking for but can’t seem to find anywhere. These include the perfect Maxi skirt: It’s flowy, yellow or green and long...the perfect leather jacket: It has fabulously high shoulders, the sleeves are three quarter and it has a biker streak.

There are certainly similar pieces out there but they are not exactly as I imagined in my head.

New to the list is a pair of high waisted shorts. The picture is clear in my head, these dream shorts are in floral print or any sorbet colour, go high above the waist and aren't too short. The tailoring is perfect, such that all imperfections are hidden...

Everything I found in the stores has been either too short or the waist not high enough. Forever New has some great shorts for ladies with petite frames.

So imagine my delight when I found a pair of high waisted long hipster pants that didn't quite work as pants on me; I knew immediately their fate was sealed and they were be chopped short.

I didn’t want to mess them up so I got a seamstress to cut them for me. These may not be my dream pair of shorts but they will have to do for now...

I bought the pants at Mr Price and as per usual the pricing was fabulous and I didn’t feel guilty at all defacing them.

And the search for perfection continues...

 

About the outfit:

- Shorts- Mr Price
- Tank- Sissy Boy
- Shoes- La Boutique

Head On..

Picking what to wear is my favorite part of the day; this is the one time I can really be creative. My personal style has grow a lot over the years; I now no longer feel the need to follow every trend, I also now have a lot more faith in my instincts and I am not afraid to take a risk..I may get it wrong but I love dressing on my own terms. I have resolved to take a trend that I like and really make it my own. 

Before I even go to my closet to look for what to wear, I start with one piece that I know I want to wear that day. It could be shoes or a dress; I then build the rest of the outfit from there. 

In this case I built this look from this recently acquired scarf from Forever New.. My thought process was that I wanted this wonderful scarf to be the focal point and I wanted the rest of the pieces to complement rather than outshine or compete with the scarf. 

I thought this sheer navy top would make the perfect background, so that the blue jeans and the scarf work in harmony. 

The brown stacked heel gives a great balance to this look. The shoes are from Aldo and they work pretty much with anything.

I hope the look inspires you. 

About the outfit:

- Shoes- Aldo

- Jeans- Woolies

- Top- Vero Moda

- Belt- Mr Price

- Scarf worn as turban- Forever New

uMbhaco!

Beauty is pain. Or in every fashionista's case fashion can be painful..

This lovely floor length skirt is a traditional Xhosa design known as uMbhaco. It has been made in a wrap around cut and fashioned from very heavy material. I had to walk with purpose and poise just to carry this look.

Women have been suffering for beauty and fashion for centuries, so what’s a little heavy skirt in a girl’s fashion journey?

Traditionally this skirt would be worn with a matching shawl, also made from heavy material..a lot of beads, a turban and facial art work.

I didn't go for the entire shebang because I wanted to keep the look traditional with a little modern edge. The Zara necklace added a modern interpretation of the beads and a refreshing splash of color.

I love the high waist of the skirt and the fact that it fits perfectly thanks to the wrap around design. The A line cut is always flattering with the right length.

To keep the skirt informal, I dressed it down with flat sandals.

For a more dressed up effect in the evening you can wear this skirt with a strapless bustier in denim or black.

The black cotton t shirt is from Woolies, the skirt was made for me by Mzanzi designs Emporium in Maponya mall.

THE TURBAN TUTORIAL!

I have been promising to do a turban tutorial for a while now, well finally here we go.
There really aren't any hard and fast rules about this, just get a feel of what works and how the wrap feels and looks on your head.
Before you can start experimenting with what your style is, try my tips first until you are comfortable and have developed your own instincts.

Step 1:

You will need a square scarf. A square is much easier to work with than a rectangular scarf. If you can find a triangle scarf that is big enough to cover your head then that's great too.

Start by laying out your scarf on a flat surface..

Step 2:

Fold your scarf into a triangle as shown below. Is you are working with a rectangular scarf your triangle won't be perfect, just ensure that you have three sides after the fold.

                          


Step 3:

Next you need to put the cloth on your head, such that you have two sides that you can tie comfortably on top of your head.

                         

Tie the two loose sides on top of your head; you can tie it on the side so that your turban hump is not directly on the center of your head.

It depends on you how tight to make it, just make sure its not too tight that you get a headache. If you are working with a silk scarf like me here, you may need to tighten a bit more to strengthen the grip of the silk on your head. Cotton is the best fabric to use, its breathes so you are no too hot and it stays put.

You have two choices here, you can take the two strings and tie them in knots on the top part of your head over and over until the strings are short and can be tucked in easily; or you can do as I have here and tie the two strings at the back of your head. This ensures further that the scarf stays in place.

Step 4:

You are now left with one string/ piece in the front of your head; This will need to be tucked in. There are a number of ways to do this, if you want a hump then loosely tuck in on the top of your head ensuring that you don't pull too much and you leave a soft high hump.

Alternatively, you can go for a flatter top, if you do this correctly it can look like you are wearing a slip on turban rather than one you made yourself.

So grab that loose piece on top and pull it to the back, making a nice ruffle on top so that it is not too flat. Tuck in the piece at the back of your head on the edges to the turban, if it doesn't reach that far back; then pull the front piece back as far as it can go and use one of the two pieces you tied at the back earlier to create a knot with this piece. Once the knot is tight the head wrap will feel firm and in place.

As you continue to experiment with the turban, you'll find better ways to wear it and you'll soon realize that each scarf guides you as to how to wear it.

Below are pictures of how I have worn the turban before.
I hope this helped, and remember a turban look is not complete without the right amount of attitude. 

This is an example of a rectangular scarf that wont be a perfect triangle  therefore I opted to ties the two strings on top over and over creating little knots until I could tuck everything in. So no strings go to the back here, everything is nicely tucked in at the top. 

I did the big hump slightly on the side here, this scarf is very big so I could tuck the top piece at the back of my head whilst still leaving the hump nice and high. If you use a smaller scarf the turban will mostly likely be flatter and the bigger the scarf the more volume you can get.

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About the scarves:

- The blue scarf is from Forever new
- The black and white scarf is from Mr Price
- The brown scarf is from Woolies